We were staying in Croydon and were looking for somewhere to eat but Wetherspoons and Lloyd's were both busy and we couldn't find a table in either. We ended up eating in Yates's Bar. The music wasn't too loud when we got there but it got louder and louder while we were there. By the time we had finished eating, the music was painfully loud and we couldn't wait to leave.

We went to Wetherspoon's for a quiet drink afterwards. We managed to find a table where we could talk without having to raise our voices.

Comparison of Yates's and Wetherspoons:

Category	Yates's	Wetherspoons	Winner:
Food	Ok. I had the beer and a burger. Only beer option was Fosters though.	Ok. Better choice of beer with the 'beer and a burger' meal.	Draw(ish)
Drink	Good choice of bottled beers. Prices ok.	Good choice of bottled beers. Excellent choice of real ale. Great prices.	Wetherspoons
Busy?	Half full. Plenty of tables.	Nearly full. Not many tables available.	If you're running a business, Wetherspoons.
Ambiance	Loud shitty music. Got louder and shittier while we were there.	No music. Easy to hold a conversation.	Wetherspoons.

I really don't know why bars insist on playing music at painfully loud volumes. I can't see how it can attract people in without also annoying them. You've only got to look at how busy Wetherspoons was compared to Yates's. If you ran a bar which was regularly half empty when a nearby bar was almost full, it would be in your best interest to find out why. You'd have to be some kind of moron to not realise the loud music is driving a lot of people away.

Update 14/04/08 I've since read that the Yates's in Coventry has closed. It was always blaring out loud crappy music - that probably drove away most potential customers.